Science Of Motion (2025)

22/03/2025

There is a great world if we are ready to meet the horse.

In the Science of Motion courses, Simple 25 Plus, Master One 25 Plus, and Master Two, we show the work of young horses, the difficulty they encounter in learning to become sports horses, and how we resolve the difficulties. The approach is gentle and respectful, guiding the horse's mental processing toward efficient body coordination.
The program prompts thought-provoking questions, enabling riders to liberate themselves from the guilt associated with the traditional approach. The horse is wrong, or we do it wrong. This is detrimental to both the rider's and the horse's confidence. There is a gentle, intelligent, and ethical way. It is a paradigm shift but opens the door to a very efficient and pleasant interaction with the horse. The following response was triggered by an excellent question. It is not a statement, which is a restrictive way of communication, but instead an intelligent question. Here is my response.

Horses are born with skill, but the performances we ask them to perform are not in their Umwelt. They have the mental capacity to protect their athletic imperfections but not to analyze and correct them. It is our job to consider the horse's challenges and find ways to assist them. We are trained to assess the horse's resistance or difficulties in relation to stereotypes, including those associated with the classical approach, and show ring stereotypes. Classical stereotypes are based on an elementary understanding of the horse's bodily functions. The judging stereotypes are based on the appearance of the performances without a profound understanding of the performance's athletic demand. Judges reward dysfunction as their understanding of proper function is archaic. We need to analyze the horse's difficulty and explore hypotheses on how to help the horse achieve advanced athleticism. It is a lot more ethical, pleasant, and intelligent than submitting the horse to stereotypes. I was guilty of perpetuating stereotypes when I was a young trainer and in the competitive world. I have always felt that I betrayed my horses. Show business is a farce and only allows for an elementary relationship with the horse. There is a much more ethical and pleasant world when we start to understand and respect the horse's willingness and advanced capacity for processing. Teaching the horse to execute efficient and sound movements requires a great deal of knowledge and experience but is far more valuable than simply making the horse do it.
Jean Luc

20/03/2025

Classical or Elite Rider

“If you can only be tall because someone’s on their knees, then you have a serious problem.” Toni Morrison
If you can only be a good rider because the horse is submitted, then you have a serious problem. Horses obey, even if our demand induces physical pain. They find compromises that ease the discomfort, but they can’t understand the long-term damage of the compromises. If our value is our ability to “make the horse do it,” we have no value. Our value is our knowledge of the performance’s athletic demand and our ability to guide the horse’s mental processing toward adequate body coordination. The classical approach is not built on this knowledge. The classical approach utilizes the wisdom and experience of talented riders to guide the horse in executing movements according to established standards. The standards don’t stand actual knowledge. Some are plainly false, such as the advanced engagement of the hind legs lifting the horse to lightness; others cripple the horse, such as driving the horse onto the bit. Compressive forces cause arthritis, and the cervical lesions of horses compressed between the rider’s driving seat and heavy contact on the bit are consistent with compressive forces.
Astronauts who spend a long time in space return to Earth with a different perspective. Earth's atmosphere is thin. "I realized that everything that sustains life on Earth depends on a fragile layer, almost like paper” (Larry Gindhart), and the futility of human values, money, power, and possessions became apparent. Down to Earth, humans will probably destroy the planet because of their material values, but there is an elite that can, for the time left, appreciate and benefit from the gift of life, and the horse is a gifted teacher. The horse allows us to be just a rider, even a skilled one, or a valuable human being.
In the Science of Motion courses, we discuss meditation sessions where, with heightened concentration and respect for the horse, we become capable of feeling what we could not feel with traditional approaches. Our perspective as humans changes as we realize that the horse is at home with this high level of finesse and subtle muscle tone adjustments. We take conscience that the horse has suffered from our gross gestures but did not blame us. The horse won the blue ribbon despite our crudeness, letting our ego enjoy ephemeral glory. The farce does not last long as pathology develops and the horse can no longer perform. This is when the classical rider injects the joints, and the elite rider upgrades his equitation and human values to the practical application of advanced knowledge.
Jean Luc

16/03/2025

Balance is Three-Dimensional
So is straightness and forwardness. Evolve from linear and mechanical thinking. Protect your horse from traditional beliefs. They are unrelated to the horse's body function and mental processing. Why follow a tradition that stresses joints and soft tissues abnormally and pay a lot of money to "repair" damages that cannot be repaired, when most of the lesions can be prevented. Rush the horse on the forehand and hold heavy contact on the bit, and you will likely deal with kissing spine and cervical arthritis. Ignore the lateral shifts; you will likely deal with navicular, knee, or hock arthritis. Ignore the spine dysfunction loading the legs abnormally and spend your life looking for a hoof care provider who will compensate for your ineffective riding. For decades. I have restored soundness when all approaches have failed and the therapy was adjusted to the individual horse but basically recreated a body function that should have been created in the first place. Invest in riding well. The classical approach has not evolved with actual knowledge. You can upgrade your equitation and beliefs to a new understanding of the horse's body function. It is gentle, intelligent, fascinating, easier than the traditional equitation and allows you to discover your real talent and your horse's true potential. Jean Luc Cornille

14/03/2025

The Science of Motion Work in Hand
There is the Science of Motion work in hand and the others work in hand
In hand Horse Training
by Jean Luc Cornille 2014
Many imitate our approach holding the reins with two hands and touching the horse's legs or body with a whip. Doing so, they miss the science behind the experience. The technique of holding the reins with two hands and touching the legs with a whip only allows talented but dysfunctional horses to perform the movement for which their physique is not athletically prepared. The techniques were acceptable as long as the equine education was limited to appearances. Most dressage manuals describe the training of passage and piaffe, but very few explain how the horses perform them." (Mikael Holmström, 1994)

Advanced research studies explain how the horse performs gaits and athletic achievements. The practical application of cutting-edge research studies is precisely about preparing the horse's physique for the move. The extension to therapy is the practical application of Rooney's principle," A major cause of lameness is lameness." The gait abnormality is there first, and it is the repetition of this gait abnormality that causes pathological changes and, therefore, injury. In-hand techniques that teach the movements without the capacity to precisely develop and coordinate the horse physique for the athletic demand of the performances are not therapeutic.

Naïve thinking believes that moving the limbs and, therefore, the joints is therapeutic. Cavalettis, for instance, are commonly emphasized as a therapy for stifle injury. The thought behind the elementary thinking is that the hind limb's flexion above the cavalettis gymnastics the stifle joint. More elaborate thinking exposes a different picture. The kinematics adaptation of the hind limb above the cavalettis induces flattening of the pelvic, which demands more significant rotation of the femur around the hip joint. Such rotation creates an inward rotation at the level of the tibia that places the stifle at risk of upward fixation of the patella. This is explained in great detail and muscle by muscle in our online course. This is the difference between biomechanics and pathomechanics. Most of these naïve therapies are labeled as biomechanics. They are, in fact, pathomechanics. Pathomechanics is a new term describing mechanical movements of the limbs or vertebral column causing pathological changes and, therefore, arthritis, spurs, tearing of tendons or ligaments, or other injuries.

"The biomechanics of the vertebral column, although very complex, are of vital importance because they form the basis of all body's movements" (Leo Jeffcott, Natural rigidity of the horse's backbone, 1980) Proper limbs kinematics cannot be created or recreated without adequate work of the thoracolumbar column's mechanism. This is why the work in hand needs to concentrate the horse's brain on further mastering his vertebral column muscular system. The two hands a whip approaches concentrate the horse's brain on the hind legs and bit. Instead, the science of motion approach, which emphasizes one hand on the horse's shoulders, sets the conditions for a dialogue based on better coordinating the horse's vertebral column mechanism. Holding the reins with one hand on the horse's shoulders is like removing the spurs. The technique goes far beyond one hand instead of two. I often say to new students, "The first day, you will be out of control. You will still be out of control two weeks later, but you will get used to it. However, the horse will still be there, by your side, ready to further a dialogue based on intelligence. When control is not an option, intelligence enters the game. The two-hands approach is about control, and the culture of control is directed by fear of the horse. Unfortunately, the culture of control forces the horse into a protective set of mind. Many emphasize mutual respect, but their view of mutual respect is domination. The horse has to protect himself from domination, and the horse's resistance triggers harsher domination. The psychology of submission and obedience does not permit sophisticated coordination of the horse's physique.

The intelligence that the horse needs to develop is the capacity to further refine the coordination of his physique. In hand, the horse's focus does not need to be on the bit and the whip touching his limbs or his body. Instead, the horse's concentration needs to be on his vertebral column mechanism. I removed my spurs, knowing that, in the face of difficulty, I would have resorted to the extra push instead of refining the vertebral column mechanism. In the face of difficulty, one hand instead of two is the difference between refining and furthering mastery of the vertebral column mechanism, one hand, and resorting to domination and control, two hands.

Restoring soundness demands complicity between two intelligences; the trainer's brain's analytic capabilities and the processing for greater efficiency that only the horse's brain can do. To perform efficiently and soundly, the horse needs to conceive muscle coordination far more sophisticated than natural reflexes. This form of intelligence demands creativity, pertinence and includes errors. The horse must not be afraid of making errors, and this confidence commences in his relation with us in the stall, the handling, and even the cross ties. Our safety demands establishing fair parameters of mutual respect, but when these parameters include having the horse standing still and square in the crossties, this is not respect for the horse; this is insane domination. Such domination hampers the horse's ability to explore his body in the training ring further. If the horse has to be a slave in the crossties, he will unlikely take intelligent initiatives in the training ring. Without intelligent initiatives, the education cannot go beyond the refinement of natural reflexes, and rehabilitation cannot go beyond "doing better."

"With rare exception, today's parents believe discipline is all about the clever manipulation of reward and punishment." (John Rosemond, living with children - 2005) This type of leadership numbs the horse intelligence. One needs to remember that at first, the horse's nature is constantly protecting the horse's body state, which is whatever muscle imbalance, morphological flaw, or bad locomotor pattern that is familiar. The true dialogue commences after the initial resistance when instead of combating or dominating the resistances, the trainer guides intelligently the horse's brain through these instinctive impulses. John Rosemont also says that a true leader does have a sound understanding of the future. In equine education, the future is the upcoming stride or performance, and without a sound knowledge of the athletic demand, no serious education can be made. Rehabilitation is even more demanding. Correcting the kinematics abnormality source causing injury demands a sound understanding of how one can influence the horse's vertebral column mechanism while walking by the horse's side.

Working in hand, Lafayette was probably not the first horse responding to minute adjustments of the trainer's back. He might be the first one who was given credit for doing it. After six months of stall rest due to a fracture of the right hind leg coffin bone, Lafayette walked his first steps, pointing the toe of his right hind leg onto the ground without any dorsi-flexion of the fetlock. Steps after steps, the hoof placement lightly improved, but it was no dorsi-flexion of the fetlock. He was doing better, but he was lame. Without dorsi-flexion of the fetlock, deep digital flexor tendon, as well as superficial flexor and suspensory ligament, would never reeducate. The horse would be "doing better" for the rest of his life. Only advanced placement of the hind leg under the body and increased duration of the decelerating phase could create dorsi-flexion of the fetlock. Lafayette knew about the collection as it was part of his dressage work when he was an advanced three-day event horse. The question was how to recreate such a collection while working in hand. At this stage of his rehabilitation, he was not capable of dealing with the weight of the rider.

Before his accident, Lafayette was already trained through subtle coordination of his back via nuances in my back's muscle tone. All the conditions were set for his reaction, but it was hard to believe that he could feel my back muscles adjustments while I was walking by his side. Once it became apparent that Lafayette not only could feel nuances in my back muscles tone but was indeed very comfortable with this level of subtle communication, his rehabilitation used a technique referred to in the classical literature as "le pas contè," the counted walk. It is a very slow and very collected walk as if one counts each step, one, two, three, etc. Lafayette held the collection three steps, five steps, fifty steps until he was able to walk each morning for one hour in the Virginia countryside. Lafayette fully recovered as he is the horse staring on the video, "One hand on his shoulder."

The work in hand used for this rehabilitation was inspired form General Decarpentry's technique. However, the horse's ability to feel nuances in muscle tone and, therefore, energies created by the trainer's body profoundly changed the technique as well as the psychology of the approach. Decarpentry had a very analytic mind. He suggested, for instance, touching the horse with the whip on the chest instead of on the side because he observed that most horses avoided the whip contact moving their croup sideway. He was also aware that the whip did not stimulate any specific muscle group but was simply a conditioned reflex. It was very easy for the horse to understand that the whip's touch on the chest had the same meaning as the same touch on the flanks.

We do not use this approach because it limits the dialogue with the horse to obedience to cues. Lafayette did not need obedience. He needed to concentrate on optimum coordination of his back muscles and consequently perfect limb kinematics and hoof placement. Horses are designed to be superiorly efficient, with the maximum movement for minimum effort. This is their second nature that better training techniques can further educate. The problem was the right hind leg, and Lafayette's first nature would have been adapting to the tendons' restriction. Hoof placement and gait would have adapted to the compromise, and lameness would have been his way of life. Instead, by challenging the horse's second nature, the intrinsic desire to be efficient, we corrected the right hind leg's kinematics. We did not let the back adapt to the limb's restriction. Instead, we coordinated the back efficiently and let the horse intelligence explore hind limb kinematics adapted to the back coordination. By enhancing the thoracolumbar spine mechanism and consequently creating a greater dorso-ventral rotation of the pelvis, the hind legs impacted further forward under the horse's body. As the horse focus was on balance control, the brain furthered the hind legs' decelerating activity, which for the right hind leg created progressive restoration of the tendons and ligaments elasticity.

At the level of the handling technique, evolutions to actual knowledge were necessary. Decarpentry advised bridging the reins and holding them with the right hand in pronation. We have observed that such techniques easily led to heavy contact with the bit. At the time Decarpentry wrote, "Academic Equitation," balance control was figured as a backward shift of the weight over the hind legs. Advanced knowledge demonstrates that instead, balance control is a subtle orchestration between greater decelerating activity of the hind legs, greater conversion through the back muscles of the thrust generated by the hind legs into vertical forces, and consequently greater ability of the forelegs to produce upward vertical forces. Balance is not achieved front to back but instead back to front. Balance control is how the thoracolumbar spine and associate muscles manage the thrust generated by the hind legs back to front through the thoracolumbar spine. The work of the back muscles is precise, subtle, and powerful. Any unnecessary contraction can easily hamper the process. This is why the science of motion approach promotes absolute lightness and handling the reins encouraging absolute lightness.

Lafayette demonstrated his capacity to feel nuances in muscle tone and, therefore energy produced by my abdominal and back muscles. Many horses after him have shown similar sensitivity. In fact, most horses are comfortable communicating at this level of subtlety as long as they are given a chance. However, while most horses are willing to communicate and functions at this level of subtle communication, education is necessary. The horse brain can easily be dispersed by gestures and voice commands. This is why we moved away from obedience to cues such as creating forward movements touching the chest with a whip. The intelligence that the horse needs to develop is about efficient use of his physique. Efficient use of the horse's physique is not about executing gestures but instead understanding the muscular coordination preparing the horse physique efficiently for the athletic demand of the gesture. The pantomimes making a horse mimicking the trainer lifting one leg or another move are not the form of intelligence that the horse needs to develop. These masquerades make people believe that they do dressage when they are making the horse executing moves for which his physique is not athletically prepared.

The science of motion work in hand is a totally different level. We match the steps once the horse starts to coordinate his back muscles, but the purpose is absolutely not matching the legs but simply that through this coordination, greater harmony of the upper body can be achieved. Lafayette rehabilitation lasted a year. Each morning we walked side by side for one hour in the Virginia countryside, first on the flat and then by hills and valleys. This time together was a wonderful practical application of advanced research studies. I explored many nuances, from the way I placed my feet on the ground for better control of my upper body to the rhythm of the adjustments. All are important and demand practice, but the results are astounding. Gestural imitations don't go very far. Soundness is a serious business, but it is also the greatest gift that one can be given to the horse. Soundness is class as it cannot be achieved through approximations. The science of motion work in hand is sober, intelligent, and classic as long as classic is about furthering the wisdom of centuries through new knowledge.

Jean Luc Jean Luc Cornille https://www.scienceofmotion.com/documents/the_science_of_motion_work_in_hand_.html

13/03/2025

Biojump 4 Special Document

10/03/2025

Mechano-responsiveness 17
Simple Jean Luc Cornille

“In equitation as in politics, one should beware of simplifications; they always complicate the matter at the end.” (General Decarpentry, Academic Equitation, 1949)

Stimulating flexion of the hock or the knee touching the limbs with a whip is simple, but it is a travesty. Simple is a mockery flatting the rider’s ego but complicating the horse task. The shape of the bones, like on this picture, the shape of T3 and its connection with TC, which is the middle join of the hock, clearly shows that the bones of the joints are designed for a very precise synchronization of movements combining flexion, extension and medial to lateral and lateral to medial rotation. When proper correlation between flexion, extension and inward rotations is altered by touching the limb with a whip, or improper coordination between vertebral column and limbs movements, sharing forces occur which, over a period of time, develop arthritis.

From impact to push off, there is a very precise synchronization between flexion extension and inward rotations of the joints designed to absorb impact and storing elastic strain energy that is used for the following sequence of the stride swinging the leg forward. When properly coordinated, the energy stored in the tendons, aponeurosis and muscles during the decelerating phase of the stride is used for the propulsive phase and the swing. The amplitude of the swing, such as for instance the elevation of the knees during the piaff, is proper use of an elastic strain energy stored in tendons and muscles during the stance. When the horse is improperly coordinated for the move such as for instance, carrying too much weight on the forelegs during the piaff, the elevation of the forearm is poor and trainers who do not understand the dynamics creating a correct piaff, try to create artificial gesture of the forelegs touching the limb with a whip. The mockery further complicates the horse task. The horse has to use muscles instead of tendons to lift the leg in spite of a weight distribution and body coordination that is improper for the legs movements that they are asked to perform. The subtle correlation between flexion, extension and inward rotations of the joints is not only altered but the joints are asked to perform in and angle and timing and duration that is contrary to their design. (The round metal circles are magnets )

“Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler.” (Albert Einstein) The equine locomotor mechanism is a marvel of precision, efficiency but also complexity. The art of dressage is the ability to properly synchronize this complex and sophisticated mechanism. The art of dressage is not altering such precise mechanism through simpler riding and training techniques. Complexity can be clearly explained but not simplified. Instead, lameness and mediocrity can be simplified since lameness and performances below the horse’s talent results from improper coordination of the horse’s physique for the athletic demand of the performance.

Everyone agree that gaits as well as performances commence with the engagement of the horse hind legs. Proper locomotion demands adequate coordination between the rotation of the hind limb and therefore the femur around the hip joint and dorso-ventral rotation of the pelvis-sacrum unit. When the dorso-ventral rotation of the pelvis is altered by dysfunction of the thoracolumbar spine, the same engagement of the hind limb demands greater rotation of the femur around the hip joint. At the level of the femur/tibia junction, which is the stifle, excessive pendular movement of the femur around the hip joint induces excessive inward rotation lateral to medial that is placing the medial patellar ligament over the ridge of the femoral trochlea. This is the mechanism of upward fixation, or accidental lock of the patella and therefore stifle problem. Dysfunction of the thoracolumbar spine can be created by simpler theories such as relaxation, stretching, that are exactly the opposite of the way the muscular system of the thoracolumbar column effectively functions. In 1976. Hans Carlson demonstrated that beside resisting gravity, the main function of the back muscles was protecting the thoracolumbar spine from an amplitude of movement that would exceed the thoracolumbar spine’s possible range of motion. In fact, since the aim of the science of motion is identifying and correcting the root cause of the problem, we rehabilitate stifle problems recreating proper dorso-ventral rotation of the pelvis and therefore proper function of the thoracolumbar column. This is why, not only the horses regain soundness but they also improve the quality of their trot. In his quantitative study, Mikael Holmström demonstrated that better movers exhibited greater dorso-ventral rotation of the pelvis.

Many simplistic theories are increasing the load on the forelegs, driving seat, heavy weight on the bit, long and low, fast forward, etc. Proponents of these simple approaches minimize the damaging effects of increased load on the forelegs. Simple is a marketing strategy that is conveniently skipping the complexity of the systems and the damages induced on the limbs as well as structures when the systems are not subtly coordinated. Simple theories regard the stance, which is the sequence of the stride where the hoof is on the ground, as a simple support phase. In reality, there is during the stance, a very complex succession of dynamic phenomenon that are altered by excessive load on the forelegs. In the first 20% of the stance, the power flow is acting downward and is absorbed by the flexors of the fetlock joint. The flexors are tendons that are regulated by muscles. Between 20% and 45% of the stance, the power flow is reversed the flexor muscles produce power that is transported upward participating in the lift of the trunk. From 40% to 60%, the power flow is acting downward and is absorbed by the fetlock and coffin joint flexor. The only tendon inserted on the coffin joint is the deep digital flexor tendon and therefore the loading power is absorbed by the deep flexor muscle. From 60% to 90%, The fetlock flexor produce power which is transported upward. The concept of power transport is totally unknown form simple theories but is part of sound locomotion. Muscles covering several joints can take power at one joint and produce power at another joint. Of course the mechanism is complex but it is a marvel of efficiency. This superb mechanism is enhanced by an equitation and an education understanding and respecting the complexity of the equine biomechanics. Instead, this superb mechanism is destroyed by simple training techniques. Jean Luc Cornille 2016 https://www.scienceofmotion.com/documents/mechnoresponsivenss_17_simple.html

06/03/2025

Another used Macel for sale. The model is the traditional Samba

05/03/2025

In respect of actual knowledge of limbs kinematics and equine vertebral column mechanism, medium trot is a performance athletically more demanding than Piaff and Passage. Rationally, medium trot should not be asked before at the least Prix Saint Georges and probably even later. In fact is medium trot is performed as it should maintaining perfect control of the balance and therefore cadence all the way through the diagonal, the athletic demands of the performance is as difficult if not more difficult than the piaff. The reason why medium trot is asked at third level is that the designs of the dressage tests as well as the judging standards are based on the heretical belief that the alighting hind leg propels the horse’s body upward and forward as soon as ground contact. The same belief supports theories such as driving the horse onto the bit and rushing the horse forward. If, as these inaccurate theories believe, the alighting hind leg produced an upward propulsive force as soon as ground contact, increasing the hind legs propulsive activity would be effective.

The problem and the reason why these riding and training techniques are keeping talented horses below their real athletic abilities and cripple a large percentages of them is that the supporting hind leg does not propel the body upward as soon as ground contact. At the contrary, the supporting hind leg decelerates the horse’s body from impact and until about 45% of the support phase. The joints of the alighting hind leg fold resisting attraction of gravity and inertia forces. This cumulus of forces is often referred to as “impact forces.” This sequence of the stride is referred to as “braking phase.” The term braking is confusing. A good comparison is the work of your leading leg as you are walking down hill with a back pack of about 15 pounds. Your leading leg impacts and your knee extensors muscles decelerate your body resisting attraction of gravity and inertia forces. Without this decelerating action, gravity would make you run faster and faster until the bottom of the hill. Technically, your leading leg is ”braking.” However you leg is not rigid bracing against the ground; forward motion never stops. The joints of your leg fold resisting attraction of gravity and inertia forces. The work of your knee extensor muscles is essentially eccentric, which is a powerful type of muscle contraction. As you are walking and not jogging, the strain energy created by the eccentric contraction is not immediately reused and therefore is dissipate as heat. If you are not trained at hiking up and down hill, you will experience muscle soreness the next day.

At impact and until the peak vertical, which is the instant where the hind leg is acting vertically onto the ground, the supporting hind leg decelerates the horse’s body. The decelerating phase is the sequence of the stride where the supporting hind leg is involved in controlling balance. After the peak vertical, the supporting hind leg propels the horse’s body forward. The hind limb is no longer under the body but is rather behind the horse’s body. The net effect is therefore a force in the direction of the motion. The thrust generated by the hind legs travels forward through the horse’s thoracolumbar column and is submitted to the attraction of gravity. A percentage of the thrust generated by the hind legs is therefore loading the forelegs. The forelegs are designed to compensate for this loading effect propelling the horse body essentially upward . This is why scientific measurements have demonstrated that during regular locomotion, the forelegs produce 57% of the vertical impulse while the hind legs only 43%.

The numbers vary with the demands. During piaff for instance, the supporting hind leg develops a considerable braking activity in order to resist forward displacement of the body over the forelegs. The forelegs in counterpart produce considerable vertical impulse. The problem is that pelvic muscles, and therefore the muscles of the hind legs producing propulsive forces are 4 times stronger than their equivalent muscles of the forelegs. If the main muscles of the thoracolumbar column are not converting a percentage of the propulsive force generated by the hind legs into vertical forces, resisting attraction of gravity and therefore enhancing balance control, the load on the forelegs overwhelms the forelegs’ upward propulsive capacities. The forelegs then resist excessive forces increasing their braking action. The braking phase of the forelegs last from impact until the 40% of the stance. Stance describes the time where the front limb remains on the ground.

During piaff, the hind legs produce a considerable braking activity but little propulsive force. This is understandable since the propulsive activity of the hind leg lifts the croup and the elevation of the croup shifts the weight over the forelegs. The back muscles convert during piaff a percentage of the thrust generated by the hind legs into vertical forces. The work is eased by the fact that the hind legs produce little propulsive activity. Correct piaff results therefore from the large decelerating activity of the hind legs and the conversion through the main back muscles of the thrust generated by the hind legs into greater vertical forces. When the horse is properly educated, the decelerating action of the hind legs and the work of the main back muscles reduce the load on the forelegs allowing the forelegs’ extrinsic muscles to propel the front end of the horse’s body upward.
Medium Trot
by

Jean Luc Jean Luc Cornille

When the horse’s vertebral column is not properly educated and the training technique is heretical such as activating the propulsive activity of the hind legs with a dressage whip, excessive forces load the forelegs and the front legs are unable to propel the front part of the horse’s body upward. This is why improperly educated horses are unable to keep the rhythmic sequence of the limbs action and the piaff degenerates into a marching band type of gait. This is also why horses shift their forelegs backward underneath themselves. They balance themselves over the forelegs and are consequently unable to perform a correct piaff.

During piaff, or at the least when the training of piaff is correct, the back muscles only have a moderate amount of hind legs’ propulsive to convert into vertical forces. During medium or extended trot, the work of the back muscles is more difficult since the thrust generated by the hind legs is greater. When medium trot is asked before educating the main back muscles in converting the thrust generated by the hind legs into greater vertical forces, the forelegs receive excessive load and are unable to propel the front end of the horse’s body upward. The front legs attempt then to increase their braking activity controlling balance by opposing the braking activity of the forelegs to the propulsive activity of the hind legs. According to the horse’s muscular power, stamina, style, different compensation are applied inducing excessive stress on the bony column or tendons and ligaments or both. The front legs are designed to recoil using the forces accumulated during the decelerating phases to increase the upward propulsive activity. The front limbs are not designed to brace against excessive load. The front limbs of a horse asked to perform medium trot without adequate education of the vertebral column mechanism endure each stride stresses exceeding the capacity of their bones, or tendons and ligaments structure and therefore, breakdown occurs.

Proper mechanism of the horse’s thoracolumbar spine is a perquisite for collection. It does not mean that a horse entering Prix Saint Georges has been properly educated but asking medium trot to a horse which is definitively not properly educated such as a third level dressage horse is very likely to induce excessive impact forces on the forelegs as the horse races through the diagonal throwing or not throwing his front limbs in front of him.

Talented horses succeed to sustain some suspension in spite of bad training technique due to unusual strength of their forelegs’ extrinsic muscles. However they bounce their body upward but not forward. They increase then their knee action throwing their lower limbs forward. Lacking experience and knowledge, some judges reward these dysfunctional horses. This is regrettable as it orients dressage toward compulsories for which the horse is athletically unprepared instead of an art where talented athletes are soundly and adequately educated for the athletic demand of the performance.

Jean Luc Cornille

Science Of Motion

22/03/2025

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